Auburn notes: Top freshman tailback switches to defense

12:11 AM,
Aug. 20, 2013

Aurburn's Johnathan Ford switched from running back to cornerback recently.

Written by

James Crepea
jcrepea@gannett.com

Amid a growing list of injuries to the Auburn defense, one of the top performing freshmen on the team volunteered to help in any way he could. Tailback Johnathan "Rudy" Ford, a consensus four-star prospect and one of the top 20 running back recruits in the country last year, volunteered to switch to cornerback after the Tigers lost multiple defensive backs recently.

"I think he knew it was a position of need and he went to coach (Gus) Malzahn and said "Coach, I want to help the team win,'" offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. "We talked for a little bit and there were some spots over there where ...